Claxton Looks Like the Lone Opening-Night Scratch

Preseason closes 2-1. The Bulls finished exhibition play by beating Minnesota 133-116 on Oct. 16, their second straight win after an Oct. 11 loss at Denver. Caleb Wilson posted 16 points and 7 rebounds, Matas Buzelis added 14, and Jordan Hawkins hit 4 of 5 threes for 14 off the Bulls' reserves.

Reserves did the heavy lifting. Chicago's bench outproduced the starters 70-56 in the finale, extending a pattern from camp: Leonard Miller, Orlando Robinson and Hawkins have given Tiago Splitter more than his five starters some nights. Whether that holds once games count is the real test starting Oct. 21.

Claxton pegged as the one out. The Chicago Sun-Times reported Nic Claxton is expected to be the only Bull unavailable when the season opens. He's been sidelined by a hamstring strain since Oct. 5; Isaac Okoro, Zach Collins and Tobe Awaka carry the same day-to-day tag but all project back by Oct. 21.

Payroll still has room. Chicago's payroll sits at $164.3 million, under the cap, with Josh Giddey's $25.0 million deal the largest on the books ahead of Claxton's $23.1 million and Norman Powell's $21.5 million. There's space before the tax threshold, and no urgency yet to use it.

Five days to Toronto. The regular-season opener is Oct. 21 at Toronto, then a quick turn to Milwaukee on Oct. 23, Washington at home on Oct. 24 and Boston on Oct. 26. Everything between now and then is preparation; the record that counts starts at 0-0 in Toronto.